Bottle-capping machine.



F. MULLER.

BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE., APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4.1912. RENEWED MMT. 27.1915.

1,159,251 Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

' 3 s'HEETs-SHEET l. Figl.

l 1 n l F. MULLER. BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE. lAPPLICATION FILED NOV. 4.|912. RENEWED MAR. 27.4915.

1,1 59,25 1 Putented Nov. 2, .1915. y I Q 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F. MULLER.

BOTTLE cAPPlNG MACHINE". APPLICATION FILEDNOV.4,1912. RENEWED MAR.27.1915.

1,159,251. Patented N01. 2, 1915.

l l M Ein l? `w Q TED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

FRIEDERIGH MLLER, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN-MENTS, TO THE AMERICAN DAN STOPPEB COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF CON-NECTICUT.

BOTTLE-CAPPING MACHINE.

Specicationv of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

Application filed November 4, 1912, Serial No. 729,283. Renewed March27, 1915. Serial No. 17,541.

ed new and useful Improvements in Bottlel Capping Machines, of which thefollowing is a specication.

This invention relates to. bottle capping machines andthe object thereofis to so construct a machine of this class as to automatically adapt itto operate on bottles whose length may be variable without danger ofbreaking the bottles in the capping operation, and to this end theinvention consists inthe construction and arrangement of devices havingthese ends in view; and it further consists in various improvementspertaining to bottle' capping machines, embodied lin the above referredto construction and fully described yin the following specification, andclearly summarized in the claims appended thereto.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation partly insection of the assembled machine with the parts in position for crimpingthe cap around the end of the bottle. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of themachine with the parts in the reverseposition from that shown in Fig. l.Fig. 3 is a detail view of a part of the vertically operable head membershowing the operating collar having frictional engagement therewith.Fig. et is-a vertical sect1onal View of the vertically operablehead-member with the parts in the same position as in Fig. 3that is,before a bottle is inserted to be capped. Fig. 5 is a plan View of themachine. Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line A-B of Fig.l.

Considered as a whole the machine, in the embodiment thereof chosen forpurposes of illustration consists of a frame A in which is mounted adriving shaft a, the bearings b and b1 of which, as shown in thedrawing,

' allow the shaft and its worm gear to be thrown into and out ofoperative position by means of the lever mechanism c, as fol-` lows: Theworm gear al fixed on shaft a meshes with a driven gear a2 on therotatable barrel e, which is mounted on the Vertical shaft d in the mainframe (see Fig. 1),the shaft being continuously rotated in any wellknown manner.

Means are provided for locking the shaft t with the worm geara1 in meshwith the gear a2 by the provision of a stud l extending through anopening in the top of the bearing b, which, when the shaft a is moved tobring the worm into mesh with its gear will engage with the latch leveri pivotally supported on said bearing Z2, said latch being actuated by aspring 2. One end of this latch lever extends into the path of a camproject-ion el on the barrel e and is tripped by said projection at theend of the capping operation, and when so tripped the spiral spring c1which is compressed by the movement of the shaft to bring said worm gearinto mesh will throw the worm out of engagement with its gear as clearlyunderstood by referring to the drawings. To permit this movement of theshaft a, the bearing b1 is made to swivel and the bearing bis in theform of a journal box which has a sliding movement within the frametoward and from the barrel e. Thus, to effect the rotation of the barreland thus provide for the various movements necessary in the cappingoperation, the handle of the lever mechanism c (as shown in Fig. 2) isdepressed and at the end of the capping operation this mechanism istripped automatically as described to stop the rotation of the barrel.

In the frame of the machine is mounted the vertical sliding member VSwhich,4 as shown in Fig. 5, is dove-tailed in the frame. This member hasa stud 7threaded into it as at 71, its opposite end being provided witha roller 72 which extends into a cam slot e3 in the barrel e, a verticalslot 6 being provided in the frame for the movement of this stud. Saidmember 8 is substantially T- shaped in'cross section, as shown in Fig.1, one arm thereof extending at right angles to the axis of the barrele, and being bored out to receive the cylindrical heada which is fiangedat its upper end to limit its downward movement. This head tisfrictionally supported in the .member 8. A preferred manner of applyingsaid friction be- .the head 7c thus supported if in its downwardmovement it meets with any resistance which is greater. than thefrictional resistance above described, the head will come to a stop andthe member 8 sliding thereon will continue its downward movement, andthis is precisely what will take place if a bottle 3 is inserted in themachine for capping and proves to be a little longer than the bottlesfor which the machine is adjusted. Such movement of the plunger 7crelative to its support would, therefore, result in a shortened downwardmovement of the head 7c if .means were not provided to readjust saidhead in its support, which means are provided by screwing the flangedplug w into the lower end of said head c, which, when the member-8 moves'upward will come to a bearing against the underside of the frame andthus permit the member 8 to slide upward thereon to tli'e same extentthat the head if: was displaced in said member by the contact with thelonger bottle, as described. In this way the head' will becomeautomatically7 re-adjusted to operate on bottlesof the length to whichit was originally adjusted.

The capping devices proper are all mounted in the head c. These cappingdevices consist of a plunger t having a head p. thereon located in acylindrical recess o3, bored into the lower end of the stem o, a spiralspring q being located in said recess and bearing against the head 79 tonormally force the plunger downward. This plunger comes to a bearingagainst the top of the metal cap 5 placed over the beaded end of abottle when the head 7c moves downward and when further movement isimparted to the stem o in a manner to be described further. The cappingdevices are those usually em'- ployed in crimping or constricting arelatively light metalcap over thebeaded endy of the bottle to close thesame, these dee vices comprising a ring y of rubber orsimilar materialwhich is located in the plug w, the opening through the head of thisplug being provided with an inwardly extendingflange, as shown in Fig.1, to support said ring y, the end of the stem o and the head p of theplunger coming down simultaneously on top of the cap and against thering y serving to compress said ring and crimp the cap over the mouth ofthe bottle in a manner vwell known in this art. When the head k is moveddownward to bring the capping devices into proper relation to the end ofthe bottle, as just described, i-t is necessary' to hold the head 7cagainst further movement during the capping operation, and two devicesare shown for restraining the moveyment of the head during the cappingopera- 121911, one of these devices being adapted to ji-'ositively lockthe head and the other one -being adapted to apply additional fric- 35tional resistance to the head and hold it stationary. rfhe frictionaldevice comprises a lever 13 (see Figs. 1 and 4) pivotally supported onthe frame at 12, and having a bearing roller 11 in its upper end whichcomes in contact with a projection 81 on the member 8 as the lattermoves downward. The lower end of the lever 13 which will thus be swungin toward the frame is provided with a screw 15 extending through saidlever and adjusted to come to a bearing against a plug 16 in the framewhich, by the movement of the lever, may be forced against the surfaceof the head Ic at the proper time to hold it stationary during thecapping operation. The other device comprises a pair. of toggle levers17 and 18 which are operated by the arm 19 which eX- tends upwardthrough the frame and has an engagement with the cam slot 20 in thebarrel e, which cam slot is so laid out that at the moment the head isin its proper position at the end of its downward movement,

the toggle levers will be swung upward into 1 alinement, forcing theserrated stud 21 `to effect the compression of the ring y, as

described, which movement is impartedthereto by the shaft n having ascrewthreaded engagement nl with said head, a pinion 7' being fixed onthe upper end of the shaft n and the latter having a posit-ive swiveledengagement with the upper end of the stem o, by means of the flangedstud n2 entering a LT-shaped slot milled across the head of the saidstem. fWhen the shaft n is rotated in one direction. it forces the stemo downward, and-in the opposite direction raises the stem, thuswithdrawing-the capping devices inwardly relative to the lower end ofthe head. The rotation of the shaft n, therefore, must be intermittentlyeffected in opposite directions to accomplish this end. This rotation iseffected by means of a segmental gear s, mounted on the'upper end of thedevicevto swing in a plane at right angles to the axis of the shaft n,the arm s1 of said gear having a stud thereon entering the cam slot e2in the upper end of the barrel e, whereby the proper intermittentmovements of the shaft n in .opposite directions are effected, thepinion 1 being made of such length as to permit the necand the shaft nwithout becoming disengaged from the segmental gear. To prevent therotation of the head L in its support and to prevent the rotation of thestem 0 in the head, these two members have a spline and groovedconnection, the one with the frame and the `other with the head as shownin Fig. G, o2 representing lthe spline between the frame and the headand o1 that between the stem 0 and the head. l

By referring to -l and comparing same with Fig. l, it will be seen thatthe compressible ring y, when the stem o is drawn up into the head 71'.,will, in its expanded state, have an opening therein large enough toreceive the end of a bottle with its cap positioned thereon. From theforegoing description, it will be seen that the head 7c may have avertical movement of such extent as to adapt the machine vto operate onbottles whose length may vary considerably, and if the machine isadjusted to the shortest bottles, it will cap those which may be longer,without danger of breaking the same, owing to the sliding connectionbetween the head and its support and the backing up of the plunger twith the compresl sible spring q. `Obviously the resistance of thespring l] to compression is greater than the amount of friotionalresistance ofthe head c in its supporting member 8, the said springbeing stiff enough to rmly hold the cap 5 in position while thedepending border of the latter is constricted around the beaded end ofthe bottle mouth.

What I claim is 1. In a bottle capping machine, the com" bination with abottle support, of a member to receive the upper end of the bottle to becapped, a device movable within the member to exert a pressure upon theupper end of the bottle, actuating means for said member and saiddevice, and a device to lock said member in fixed stationary relation tothe bottle during the capping operation.

2. In a bottle capping machine, the. combination with a suitable fixedsupport for -the bottle, of a movable member to permit the engagement ofbottles of diierent lengths to be capped, actuating means for saidmember, and a device to lock said member in fixed stationary relation tothe 'bottle in bottle capping position, said movable member comprising arelatively movable yieldable'member to exert pressure upon the upper endof the bottle. v

3. In a bottle capping machine'.` the combination with a suitable fixed'support for the bottle to rest on 'while being capped, of

a movable member to engage the upper end of the bottle to be capped,actuating means to cause said member to move into engagement with theupper end of the bottle, and a device to lock said member in fixed sta-55 tionary relation to the bottle in such capping position, said movablemember comprising a relatlvely movable yieldable member movable to exertpressure upon the upper end of the bottle.

-within said member and arranged to directly.

engage the yupper end of the bottle, and means to cause said yieldableplunger device to be moved in opposite directions, a device to lock thehead member against movement during the capping operation, and means toretain said member and plunger device against rotary movement.

In a bottle capping machine.l the combination with a reciprocable memberto receive bottles of different lengths, a device to lock said member, amember having a threaded` engagement with said member, and locatedwithin said reciprocable member, and means for operating said threadedmembe'i in opposite directions to exert a pressure upon the upper end ofthe bottle.

G. In a bottle capping machine, the combination with a bottle clampingmember, a reciprocable plunger member located within the clamping memberto exert a yielding pressure upon the upper end of the bottle, means forcausing the bottle clamping member to exert a definite pressure duringthe capping operation, and means for locking the bottle clamping membercomprising a clamping lever operable from the support in which thebottle clamping member is located.

7. In a bottle capping machine, the combination, a movable clampingmember to receive bottles of different lengths, a yieldable plungerdevice located therein to engage the uppermost end of the bottle, meansto operate said device and means to retain the clamping member againstmovement during the operation of the plunger device, comprising a camwheel, a toggle operated therefrom and arranged to engage' the movableclamping member.

8. In a bottle capping machine, the combination with a bottle engagingmember adapted to engage the upper end of the bottle, and means forlocking it in fixed stationary relation to the bottle during suchengagement, of operative means having a yielding connection with saidbottle engaging member for communicating thereto movements upon thebottle, variable in extent and adapted for positively actuating saidlocking member to retain the bottle engaging member in operativerelation with said bottle.

9. A bottle capping machine comprising a member having reciprocatingmovementa4 actuating means therefor, a head slidablj-i supported in saidmember in axial alinea with a bottle to be capped; bottle cappingdevices carried in said head,the head vhaving an opening in the endthereof to admit the mouth of a bottle to be capped; a locking device tohold the head temporarily against endwise movement, and mechanism toactuate the capping devices-against the resistance of said head Whilethe head is held stationary by said locking device.

l0. A bottle capping machine comprising a member havingva lreciprocatingmovement in a vertical plane, a head slidably supported in said memberin axial alinement with a bottle to be capped, said head having anopening in the end thereof to admit the mouth of a bottle and cappingdevices Within the head, the movement of the latter in onedirectionservi/Iign to position the capping devices inoperativelrelation to the mouth of the bottle when the latter enters the openingin the en d of the head, said head supporting member being slidable onthe head when the movement of the head is arrested by contact of thecapping devices With the bottle; together With-means to actuate the4head supporting member and means to actuate the capping devices at'theproper time. 1

11. A bottle capping machine comprising a member reciprocally movable ina vertical plane, and mechanism to effect said movement, a head slidablysupported in said member, and capping devices carried in said head,there being an opening in the lower end of said head to admit the mouthof a bottle; a shaft in the upper end of the head havingascrew threadedengagement .With the latter and adapted to operate the capping devicesendwise of the head in opposite directions; a pinion on said shaft, anda segmental gear in mesh with the pinion to rotate the latter inopposite directions, said pinion having a sliding engagement with thesegmental gear during the vertical movements of the head, together withmeansI to move said reciprocally movable head supporting member andmeans to actuate said segmental gear.

12. In a bottle capping machine,the combination With a bottle support;of bottle engaging means for engaging the upper end of the bottle to becapped, means yieldingly` connected to said bottle engaging means foradvancing it toward the bottle, and means for locking said bottleengaging means in bottle engaging'position against further actuation byits yieldingly connected advancing means.

13. In a bottlecapping machine, the combination with a bottle support;of bottle engaging means for engagingthe upper end of the bottle to becapped, means yieldingly' connected to saidbottle engaging means foradvancing it toward the bottle, and means for locking said bottleengaging means in fixed Astationary relation to the bottle, in bottleengaging position.

14. In a bottle capping machine, the combination with a bottle support;of a bottle clamping member for holding theupper end of the bottleactuating means having frictional engagement With said clamping memberfor moving the same toward and away from the' bottle and means forlocking `the clamping member, against movement, in bottle clampingposition.

f FltlEDERlCl-ll MULLER.

Witnesses:

U. U. MLLER,

W. N. DAVIS.

